Toyota Desert International Triathlon - TriathlonOther


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La Quinta, California
United States
Klein & Clark Sports, LLC
coldF / 0C
Precipitation
Total Time = 3h 21m 20s
Overall Rank = 468/491
Age Group = W 50-54
Age Group Rank = 7/9
Pre-race routine:

Nutrition: Ate a yam and banana shortly after getting up at 5am. Had another banana and a date or two before the race started.
Event warmup:

walking around
Swim
  • 27m 33s
  • 1200 meters
  • 02m 18s / 100 meters
Comments:

This was a pretty good swim for me. As usual, my calves cramped up pretty bad in the water. I used to think this was because of the cold and that if I wore a wetsuit, I wouldn't cramp. I now think that it is because of the cold and it doesn't matter if I am wearing a wetsuit. The cramping did prevent the use of my legs during the second half of the swim, even to kick enough to keep my legs up. But still, my overall time was better than I usually achieve in the pool (where I have no cramping issues).
Transition 1
  • 08m 2s
Comments:

I haven't used a wetsuit very often and forgot about oiling yourself off in order to facilitate wetsuit removal. So it was a pain to get it off.
What would you do differently?:

Spray Pam or use Body Glide of something. Also, I would have covered up my stuff better and with plastic to keep it all dry for when the downpours started.
Bike
  • 1h 30m 13s
  • 24 miles
  • 15.96 mile/hr
Comments:

It rained fairly hard and steadily during the bike. It took the first loop to get warmed up. I don't know the pace figures for each loop, but I am quite sure the second was probably quite a bit better than the first.

All of that being said, I have never maintained a 16mph pace in a race before and I know that the course was flat and that helped my pace, I also know that it was cold and rainy and windy at times (not often). My overall goal was to keep my cadence at 90 or above and my pace at 25 kph (I wish I could figure out how to change my cycling computer from kilometers to miles) and I pretty much achieved it.

Not sure how my rank could be 538 when there were only 491 people in the race.
What would you do differently?:

Train more in wet and cold conditions. That was a joke. What I should have done differently was skip the race.
Transition 2
  • 03m 53s
Comments:

By this time I was so cold that my fingers weren't working all that well. It was a struggle to unlatch my bike shoes. Fortunately, the only dry thing I had were my socks which were stuffed into my running shoes. Not that they stayed dry very long, but I did at least get to put on dry socks.
What would you do differently?:

Not sure how I could have improved it. Lots of people were just as cold as I was and did T2 faster, but I don't know their secret.
Run
  • 1h 11m 39s
  • 6 miles
  • 11m 56s  min/mile
Comments:

My feet were numb for the first half. I was just too cold and miserable to be able to pick up the speed.
What would you do differently?:

Train more in cold and rain. Ha ha.
Post race
Warm down:

Packing up my soggy stuff as quickly as my non-functioning fingers would allow, which was not fast, and getting in my car and turning on the heater to blast.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

The rain and cold. Of course, more training never hurts.

Event comments:

For as miserable as the conditions were, overall, it was a pretty good race (time-wise) for me. Go figure. Maybe all that training actually helped.




Last updated: 2009-12-05 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:27:33 | 1200 meters | 02m 18s / 100meters
Age Group: 6/9
Overall: 460/491
Performance: Good
Suit:
Course: flat lake swim
Start type: Wade Plus: Waves
Water temp: 0F / 0C Current: Low
200M Perf. Good Remainder: Average
Breathing: Average Drafting:
Waves: Navigation: Good
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 08:02
Performance: Below average
Cap removal: Bad Helmet on/
Suit off:
No
Wetsuit stuck? Yes Run with bike: No
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed: Below average
Biking
01:30:13 | 24 miles | 15.96 mile/hr
Age Group: 6/9
Overall: 538/491
Performance: Good
Wind: Some
Course: Basically flat, although gravelly. And wet. Really wet with lots of puddles. I didn't have any problems but I saw lots and lots of people with bike problems, probably mostly all flats. Not sure why because the streets looked pretty clean.
Road: Rough Wet Cadence: 90
Turns: Below average Cornering: Below average
Gear changes: Average Hills:
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 03:53
Overall: Average
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike Below average
Racking bike Average
Shoe and helmet removal Below average
Running
01:11:39 | 06 miles | 11m 56s  min/mile
Age Group: 9/9
Overall: 564/491
Performance:
Course: Two loop around the lake. Basically flat. Mostly dirt (mud) paths or gravel.
Keeping cool Drinking
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Average
Mental exertion [1-5] 3
Physical exertion [1-5] 3
Good race? Ok
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time?
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Average
Race evaluation [1-5] 4